


A Hurricane Outside, Peace Within

by Banshi13



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Family, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurricanes & Typhoons, Kid Fic, M/M, Pining, Pre-Slash, mcdanno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-03 13:50:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banshi13/pseuds/Banshi13
Summary: “Steve, I’m telling you; pack a bag, board up your house, come over to my place for the next few days.” Danny leaned his forehead against the wall of his kitchen, closing his eyes. “Please?” He added, helplessly.“Alright-“Danny’s eyes snapped opened.  “Really?”“No, I mean, alright, I gotta go and get a swim in before the surf gets too rough. I’ll talk to you later, buddy.”





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This popped into my head while going through my nightly 'Get-Ready-For-Sleep' routine a few days ago. There's a hurricane that has affected Hawaii, and while we know that our #H50 Ohana stopped filming until Monday at least, I couldn't help but wonder what Steve would be doing during the preparations.
> 
>  
> 
> _Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-O, as well as the characters found within the series, are owned by CBS Productions, K/O Paper Products, and 101st Street Productions. No profit is being made off this work._

"No."

"Steve-"

"Danny, it'll be fine."

Danny huffed through the phone. He knew Steve was pigheaded and halfway certifiable, but this was bordering on fully insane, not to mention life-threatening. "Steve, let me try to explain this to you, okay? I'll use small words, I promise; there is a really big, really powerful, very dangerous storm called a hurricane that draws all its power from the water. You live _on_ the ocean, Steve, remember? The Pacific is your back yard. So, it is absolutely, positively, one hundred percent not a good idea for you to be at your house tonight when this thing blows through."

"Danny, this house has stood for more than fifty years." Steve was infuriatingly calm, almost nonchalant, as if a massive, category four storm wasn't barreling down on Hawaii at the moment. "I'm sure it can withstand some heavier than normal rain and wind. Besides, we're on an island – the ocean is the backyard everywhere."

"Steve, I'm telling you; pack a bag, board up your house, come over to my place for the next few days." Danny leaned his forehead against the wall of his kitchen, closing his eyes. "Please?" He added, helplessly.

"Alright-"

Danny's eyes snapped opened. "Really?"

"No, I mean, alright, I gotta go and get a swim in before the surf gets too rough. I'll talk to you later, buddy."

"Steve, no, don't you hang –"

The silence of the phone going dead was the only sound that greeted Danny's ear as he dropped his cell down and tossed it on the kitchen counter. "Stubborn asshole," he grumbled, running a hand through his hair as his son came down the hallway.

"Danno, I'm hungry," Charlie looked up at his father with the huge eyes that he'd inherited from his mother, as if he wouldn't be rewarded with food if he didn't beg hard enough.

"Yea? You want a snack, buddy?" Danny rested his hand gently on the boy's head, scratching through his silky soft strands delicately. An idea was beginning to form as he looked at Charlie, and he couldn't help his heart doing a little flip as his son nuzzled into his large palm. Danny could tell Charlie was going to be exactly like him when he was older; tactile and affectionate in his communication.

"Alright, go uh, go put your shoes on and we'll run out and grab something." As Charlie scampered back to his room, Danny walked the hallway until he was in Grace's doorway. His daughter was currently sprawled on her bed, her nose in her phone. It was a pretty standard position to find her in these days. "Hey, I'm taking Charlie out for a bit. We're gonna grab some food; you want anything?"

Grace, bless her raising, was kind enough to give her attention to her father and actively think on his request. "Where are you going?"

"Probably just the car-hop burger joint a few miles away. Oh, and the grocery store. I want to get a few more things before the storm hits." Danny lifted his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side, a thought striking him. "You have enough uh… female stuff?" And like a good father, he allowed Grace her chuckle and chortle as she ducked her head and shook it. "Yes, Danno, I'm stocked up." She gave him a bright smile.

"Good. Good, alright, well then," the detective clapped his hands together as he heard his rambunctious five-year-old run into the living room. "You'll have the house to yourself for a little bit. Try not to have a party. And no inviting Will over," he added on. The only response he got was an eye roll and a "Daaaaad", but it was enough. He grinned and waved at her before heading into the living room to collect Charlie.

"Let's go, let's go, let's gooooo!" Charlie was, apparently, very excited for his impromptu snack, and Danny couldn't blame him. Just in case a rain band decided to make its way over them while they were out, Danny grabbed a rain coat for Charlie and an umbrella for himself. "Definitely my kid. I wanted to eat all the time when I was five too. Hey," he looked down at Charlie as he opened the door and ushered him outside to the car. "You wanna drop by Uncle Steve's?"

**Hawaii Five-O**

To say that Steve was immediately suspicious upon seeing Danny in his dining room petting Eddie and teaching Charlie how to properly greet a dog was an understatement. The fact that Danny had gotten for him one of his favorite indulgences – a double stacked burger with bacon, cheese, special sauce, and veggies only heightened his radar that something was rather off about this visit. But, instead of inquiring as to the reason of the social call, Steve instead dug out a plate and some napkins and set them in front of Charlie, who was seated at the table patiently awaiting his long sought-after snack. After helping the boy to carefully unwrap his food and leaving him to it, Steve gave Danny a once over and dug into his own burger. He couldn't help the satisfied groan that escaped.

Danny shifted his stance. Just a bit. Just enough. Hopefully not too much to be noticed, but dammit, there was no way that noise couldn't have an effect on him. "Good?"

"Definitely." Steve nodded as he grabbed a few napkins and held them under the burger, ignoring the dog who was sitting at his feet, just waiting for a tasty bit of burger to drop into his willing jaws. "Thanks, man." His partner 'cheered' him with his own sandwich. "No problem. I figured while we were heading out to pick up some last-minute supplies, provisions, stuff like that, that you wouldn't mind a drop in."

"I do not mind a drop in, especially when you drop in with burgers."

Both men continued eating, Danny glancing at Charlie every so often to make sure his son was actually chewing his food and not inhaling it. Steve took Danny's sandwich wrapper into the kitchen and when he came back, he had a beer for himself and for Danny, who, like Eddie, had moved to sit by Charlie. Steve plopped the beer bottle in front of his partner and was just about to have a seat himself when Charlie spoke.

"Uncle Steve?"

"Yea, buddy?"

"Are you scared of hur'canes?" The boy had actually stopped eating, a fry dangling in between his tiny fingers as he looked up at his uncle. Steve shook his head. "Nah. Storms are fun, Charlie, and some of them are really pretty." He ignored Danny's frown. "Why do you ask?"

"Cuz the teachers at school were saying that we're not gonna be at school tomorrow because there's a really big storm coming with lots of rain and thunder and wind and lightening. My teacher said the wind can blow so hard it can knock down trees!" Charlie looked equal parts amazed and terrified, and Steve didn't know whether to grin or to sooth the kid. Danny, for his part, just kept quiet, nursing his beer and listening to the conversation unfold. The SEAL's inner radar was pinging on his periphery once more. Something was going on here, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it…

"Danno says we don't have to worry about the storm, but I don't like storms Uncle Steve. And this one is supposed to be really loud."

"Ah; you don't like the thunder?"

Charlie shook his head vigorously from side to side, and then leaned forward, almost conspiratorially towards Steve. "Can you stay with us until the storm's over, Uncle Steve? Please?"

Danny would never, ever forget the look on Steve's face as he balked at the question, and simultaneously understood exactly what was happening. "Well, Charlie I'd kinda planned to stay here at the house…" The man's halfhearted, feeble attempt at explanation and placation was nothing in the face of a five-year-old sliding down from his seat and coming to wriggle himself in between Steve's legs; Charlie's tell that he wanted to either be picked up or hugged. So, Steve did just that. He did just that while turning Charlie around and glaring at Danny, who was the picture of innocence, as Steve lifted the boy to sit on his leg, but he still did it.

"Danno says that more people staying together in a storm is good, and that there's more to do, and everyone stays safe that way." Charlie may as well have been a priest reading from the gospel of Danno, with Steve being his willing congregation. And, like a good member of the flock, Steve was soaking up every word. He absolutely ignored Danny trying to hide his laughter via his beer bottle and sighed inwardly, knowing that he was utterly defenseless in the face of Charlie's big, brown eyes and innocent, hopeful look.

"Yea, buddy, I'll stay with you for a few days, okay?"

"Yay!" And as Charlie threw his arms around Steve's neck and squeezed tight, Steve figured that this bit of thanks was worth his backing down.

"Good job, buddy," Danny got up and walked around the table to gather his son's trash, knowing he was done eating, and headed into the kitchen to throw it out, a smirk on his face. His kid had more than earned his home-made hot fudge sundae that had been promised to him if he could get his Uncle Steve to agree to leave his house and stay with Danny until the hurricane blew over. He didn't miss the rapid patter of feet heading into the bathroom just across the hallway, and he _definitely_ didn't miss the feel of a six-foot, 200-pound solder standing just inches behind him, hardly touching, but his presence making Danny feel as if he were being pushed against the counter.

"That was low, Danno."

"No, that was necessary, Steven," Danny turned around, looking at his partner and pointing over his shoulder out the window. "You see that? Right out there? That ocean is probably going to be in this house at one or several points over the next 24-48 hours. This is the absolute last place you should be, okay, babe? I saw what Hurricane Sandy did to the Jersey Shore; there was storm surge for miles, people's homes were literally washed away or covered in sand. People _died_ in that storm, Steve, because some of them chose to ride it out." He pushed off the counter and turned around, flipping the handle on the faucet to the sink up and washing his hands. "I refuse to let that be you, okay? So please, go pack a bag, bring whatever toys you want to bring with you, and let's go, alright? Please?" He glanced over his shoulder again.

Steve fidgeted under Danny's pleading look until his shoulders dropped eventually, and a heavy sigh escaped him. "Danny, the house is all I have left of my family. All this stuff in here – the drying cloth hanging on the stove was my mom's. I'd dry dishes with her after dinner almost every night. The kitchen table was made by a friend of my dad's and it's the only one we ever had because it was so well made. All my parents' things, their books…" Steve swallowed. "My dad's car. Everything I have of them is here, Danny; it's all I've got."

Quiet descended between them as Steve continued to stare at the floor and Danny chewed his bottom lip in thought. Only Charlie coming into the kitchen and tugging on his shirt brought him out of it. "C'mere buddy, you're gonna watch a movie for a bit in the living room."

"Can Uncle Steve watch too?"

Danny ambled out of the kitchen while steering his son towards the sofa in front of him. He was slightly amused that Eddie was following them. "I gotta talk to Uncle Steve about coming over for the next few days but that shouldn't take long. Here, you know how to use the remote." He picked it up from the entertainment center and turned the television on, picking Netflix from the menu and then scrolling down to the menu Steve had made especially for Charlie with all of his favorite movies and shows on it. "Pick something to watch for a little bit with Eddie here and I'll be back." He dipped a kiss into Charlie's hair before heading back to the kitchen, seeing Steve bent over the island, resting his forearms on the surface of the prep table. Tentatively, Danny lifted a hand and gently slid it to softly grip the back of Steve's neck, hoping that it was received in the spirit it was intended; reassuring, with just a hint of apology.

"Okay," Danny cleared his throat quietly, squeezing his partner's neck lightly. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do." He slipped his other hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, scrolling until he found Junior's number and dialing.

_"Detective Williams, everything okay?"_

"Yea, Junior everything's fine, except I need a favor."

_"Yes Sir, whatever you need."_

_God, this kid with the 'sirs'._ But Danny didn't really have the time to address that right now. Again. "Can you come by Steve's and pick up Charlie and drop him off at my house with Grace? Let her know I need her to watch her brother for a little bit."

_"Can do, Mr. Williams. You sure everything's alright?"_

"Yea, everything's fine, Junior, I just need to help Steve get his house ready for the hurricane before it blows through." Steve furrowed his brow and squinted at him, as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Danny continued on. "We gotta board up the windows, make sure the important stuff's off the floor, move his dad's car over to my house so it doesn't get flooded, that kinda thing."

Danny's stomach most certainly did not flip at the simultaneously grateful and relieved look Steve was giving him right now. His heart was absolutely not completely melting at the look in his partner's eyes.

_"I have some left-over plywood I was using to help some veterans board up their houses. It should be enough for Commander McGarrett's house."_

"That'd be great, man, thank you."

_"No problem, Sir. I'll get the plywood loaded up and we'll be on our way."_

Danny didn't give a second thought to what Junior could have meant by 'we' and slid his hand from Steve's neck as he disconnected the call. "C'mon, babe. Let's get all the important stuff upstairs. Junior's coming over to pick up Charlie and take him back to my place. He's gonna drop off some left-over plywood so we can board up your windows and then you will follow me in your dad's car over to my house. Good?"

Steve was looking at Danny as if the sun rose and set with every word coming out of his mouth. He nodded mutely as he stood up straight, hesitating for a moment before shuffling forward and wrapping his arms around Danny in a tight, yet all too brief (for Danny at any rate) hug. "Thank you, Danno." Steve spoke close enough to Danny's ear that the blonde had to suppress a shiver, and he was mostly successful, but not enough, obviously as Steve pulled back and looked at him. "You okay?"

"Yea, just… a chill. Got one," Danny cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. "Alright, where do we start?"

**Hawaii Five-O**

By the time Junior and Tani – _So that's what Junior meant by 'we,'_ Danny thought – got to Steve's, the duo had been able to move the kitchen table, Steve's fathers' desk and chair, various books, photos, and other items upstairs into both Steve's room and the guest bedroom. The piles of papers and files that had belonged to Steve's father were shoved into Danny's car and the Mercury. "There's no way I'm leaving these here," Steve had said, forcing the door to the Mercury closed, "they're way too important." The beloved Adirondack chairs that sat near the shore with it's little table, as well as the grill and any other patio furniture were also moved inside and upstairs.

Even Charlie got in on the act by collecting all the DVD's and books and pictures he could and running up the stairs with them to place lovingly and carefully on Steve's bed. The man looked completely stunned as he watched the five-year-old rush back down to the living room and Danny could only clap his friend on the back and chuckle quietly to himself. Danny had gotten used to the unique brand of magic both of his children carried a long time ago, but Steve would need a lot more time to accept, really, truly accept, that Charlie and Grace adored him as if he were a second father to them.

When the knock at the front door came, Danny headed down to answer it, leaving Steve and Charlie to finish putting what they could in his room.

"Hey Mr. Williams," Junior had a slightly more boyish smile on his face than he normally did, and when Danny looked just over the kid's shoulder, he saw why. "Hey Junior, Tani, thanks for doing this last minute."

"No problem," Tani shrugged. "I was just helping him stock up his apartment anyways. We had a few more things to get so it worked out."

"Uh-huh." Danny wasn't buying that explanation for a minute, but he wasn't about to call her on it, mostly because he didn't have that kind of time, but also because he knew Tani wasn't afraid to do the same to him. The woman was ridiculously perceptive, and he hadn't missed the looks she'd given both him and Steve when they were all stuck in the quarantine room together nearly a year ago, nor for weeks when Danny had returned to work after being shot, nor when Steve had (stupidly, Danny still contended) voluntarily boarded a Russian sub.

Danny was still debating on whether that last one had actually happened or whether that day had just a crazy dream.

"Is Commander McGarrett riding the storm out with you, Sir?"

The 'sir' thing had to stop. "Junior, I am in old pants and a t-shirt and we are not on duty. You can call me Danny, man, it's okay. I'm not gonna shoot you if you do." Danny actually waited for Junior to at least nod his head that he'd heard him, but he wasn't going to hold out for actual comprehension at this point in time.

"Would Commander McGarrett-"

"Steve," Danny smoothly interrupted. Junior fumbled. "… would he like one of us to drive his truck over to your house?"

A good idea if Danny had ever heard one, and he called Steve over to ask him exactly that, the answer to which was Steve handing Junior the keys and thanking him profusely before returning to his moving and packing and securing, while Danny gave Junior and Tani a hand with the plywood they'd brought.

Once everything had been unloaded from Junior's car, Danny managed to corral Charlie who still had picture frames belonging to Steve in his little arms. "But Danno I – I gotta help Uncle Steve with all this stuff!"

"Nah that's okay buddy, you did such a good job we're almost done. All we gotta do now is board up his windows with all this wood Junior and Tani brought by and we'll be leaving pretty soon." Danny was also no fool; his kid was getting tired, very tired, and an exhausted Charlie often meant a crabby Charlie if he didn't get a nap in.

Not that Charlie got that trait from him or anything.

It wasn't long until Charlie said goodbye to Steve and he, Junior, and Tani were off, Junior driving Steve's truck and Tani driving Junior's car, leaving Danny and Steve to board up the house. As it turned out, there was enough for most of the windows, save the large one in the living room and the front door, both of which Steve was willing to replace if he had to in order to double up on the downstairs and upstairs lanai patio windows and doors. They'd just finished when they both noticed the wind beginning to pick up. The cloud bands were becoming definable over the water with pulses of lightning blinking through, and Danny caught Steve watching the storm slowly but surely roll closer over the water.

"It's almost beautiful," the sailor muttered, transfixed on the rapidly angry ocean in front of him.

"Yea, that's the SEAL talking in you, sailor." Danny picked up the tools. "C'mon, let's get your car and your dog and get over to my house."

He could see the reluctance in Steve's stride, his shoulders, the way he slowly moved through out the rooms to get to the garage, almost as if he were saying goodbye, and Danny couldn't help but feel heartbroken for the guy. Once Steve had explained why he was so hesitant to leave initially, it had made perfect sense. The house and everything in it were the last things Steve had that could have possibly depicted what had been a normal life before his father had been murdered and his mother had shown up alive after twenty years of making everyone believe she was dead. The whole house was a frame by frame of 'what could have been'. And maybe perhaps a bit of 'what could be possible'.

Danny shoved away thoughts of what could be possible in this house, particularly possibilities that included him, and headed into the garage, putting the tools away as high and carefully as he could while Steve did a final check and locked up, setting the alarm.

House secure, Mercury in the driveway, garage door closed and locked, and Danny and Steve, with Eddie in tow, peeled off, one right after the other, leaving the house behind. It wasn't long before they were both pulling up in front of Danny's house, both men parking their cars on the curb right behind Steve's truck where Junior had left it. Danny hopped out of the Camaro and waved Steve forward, receiving a look of confusion from his friend in return.

"Put the Mercury in the garage," Danny directed, and he wasn't surprised at all to see the befuddled expression on the other man's face. "If our cars get any damage, HPD's body shop will take care of it, but they won't fix up your car if it winds up floating down the road and gets wrapped around a telephone poll, so," Danny pressed a button on his fob and the garage door opened slowly behind him, "put your Mercury in the garage and then come and help me get these boxes out of my car."

**Hawaii Five-O**

It wasn't more than three hours later that the first heavy bands of the storm began to make their presence known as sheets of rain, and sometimes hail, pelted the roof of Danny's house. Both he and Steve were thankful that they'd managed to squeeze both the Camaro and the Silverado underneath the carport, with only the edges of the sides, front, and back not covered, even though it had taken ten straight minutes of arguing with Steve on only putting the Camaro underneath the protective roof.

"There's enough room for both our cars, Steve, even your macho-neanderthal over-compensating truck," Danny had finally told him, absolutely exasperated by that point. "Now, would you please park your truck under here, huh?"

Now, as the winds blew the palm trees outside this way and that, Danny was fairly certain that anything outside, including vehicles stored underneath carports, was fair game for the hurricane, and they were only in the very early stages. He peeked through the window in his kitchen for the umpteenth time as burgers and hotdogs cooked on an indoor grill behind him. "Well Eddie, buddy, you should be glad you're in here with us and not out there with that." He looked down as the dog let out a begging whine, Eddie's eyes and nose going to where he knew the meat to be cooking. Danny had decided to forgo boarding up his house as he wasn't directly on the water, or even five miles within the ocean, but as he witnessed a very tall, very thick palm tree sway in the harsh breeze, he began to second guess that decision. He heard footsteps behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Grace entering the kitchen, phone in hand as if she was physically incapable of putting it down.

"What's this?" Danny poked some fun at her. "My beautiful daughter has decided to bless me with her presence; what happened, you have a fight with Will? Nothing happening on Facebook? Watched all your Youtube videos?" He snickered at Grace's clearly unamused face. "I can always go back to my room," she retorted casually back. It was something Danny was starting to notice more and more about her, the biting, sarcastic wit that she must have inherited twice over from him and her mother. He shook his head and she grinned, padding forward in bare feet to give him a hug. "Is Uncle Steve staying until the storm passes?"

"Yep."

"How'd you get him to change his mind?"

"Well…" Danny hedged a bit, but then decided to go ahead and cop to his dastardly plan. "I may have amped Charlie up a little bit about the hurricane and gotten him to ask Steve to some stay here instead of trying to ride out the storm at his place."

"You mean you got Charlie to do his begging routine that you and Mom always tell him not to do when he really, really wants something." Grace snickered as she breezed past her father and opened the fridge, pulling out a soda. When she turned, she pierced Danny with a look, one which made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Jesus, she looked like Rachel when she did that, and Danny loved his daughter, loved her very much, would kill for her and die for her at a second's notice, but he hated, _loathed_ that look she was giving him right now. It made him feel out of sorts, on edge and absolutely exposed. "Any reason why you're looking at me like I'm some kind of suspect in a crime?"

If possible, the look, the one that said Grace knew something that she technically wasn't supposed to know but did, intensified. What was it the kids said? Over 9,000 or some shit like that? Danny decided that, yes, that was indeed the correct meme for this situation. "Would you stop giving me that look?!"

His daughter, his sweet, innocent, pure and perfect daughter now held the expression of the guiltless. "What look?" She turned, looking at the burgers and the hot dogs on the grill and rotating them a bit.

"That face."

"It's just my face," Grace looked over her shoulder at him as if he were slowly going insane, but there was still the hint of that look in her eyes. "These are almost ready; can we eat in the living room?"

"Sure," Danny answered slowly, watching as she reached up and to the side to open the cupboard and pull down four plates to place on the counter next to the grill, quickly thereafter turning around to start pulling hamburger and hot dog buns out of the packaging and place them on the plates. "Is Uncle Steve going to sleep on the couch tonight?"

Danny choked; he choked at the seemingly light manner in which the question rolled off her tongue, he choked at the question in and of itself and the implication he was sure he heard between the lines, and he choked at the image he got in his head of rolling over in his bed to find Steve sleeping soundly next to him. And all the while, he was aware that Grace was watching him, those big, piercing brown eyes seeing into his soul as only she'd ever been able to. She was smiling a little as he shuffled towards her, away from the entrance into the living room so that he could speak in low tones.

"What do you mean, Grace?"

And just like that, her coy act dropped, and she was his Gracie once more. "I've kinda had a feeling for a while that you maybe kinda think of Uncle Steve as more than just a friend," she murmured quietly to him, mindful that Steve and Charlie were in the next room over.

Danny had never lied to his daughter before – he may have fibbed a bit to keep her safe, but he'd never outright lied to her, and he was ashamed to admit that he was considering doing so now. However, that thought was gone as quickly as it flashed through his mind, and instead he asked, "What do you think about that?"

She hesitated a bit, all playfulness gone now. "I… don't know. I mean, I don't think I care that he's a guy and you're a guy. It's kinda weird because I've only ever seen you interested in girls And it would be a little strange watching you guys be… you know, _like that_ with each other." Danny nodded, encouraging her to continue and remaining quiet as she did so. "I mean – I love Uncle Steve, Danno. I just… I don't want you two to start something and then it not work out."

 _Because then I'd lose someone else_ was what was meant to finish that sentence. Danny heard it as clear as he heard the rain pelting his roof. He slid next to her, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss into her hair. "S'okay, Monkey. I understand."

"Does he know?"

Danny shook his head against hers. "No, he doesn't. I haven't decided yet if I'm gonna tell him."

"Why?"

"Well, because of some of the stuff you've already brought up; I've uh, only ever liked women, so I don't really know if this is some kind of temporary thing or of it's the real deal. He's my partner at work, and I don't want to do anything to mess that up; we depend on each other a lot in that job and if something went wrong, well…" Either he, or Steve, or both of them would be looking for a new job. "And then there's you and Charlie to consider. I've made a lot of mistakes over the years when it came to who I was seeing, who I was in a relationship with and you and Charlie have had to see and learn a lot more than you should have about me and your mom and some of the stuff that went on. You guys…" he grinned, thinking of the big goof in his living room, whom he could hear playing some kind of rambunctious game with his son, "you two mean the world to Steve, okay? He loves you both so much and I know you both feel the same way about him, and I don't want to mess that up for you two." He smiled at her, though it was a bit sad. Nothing could ever be easy for him in the romance department.

He and Steve excelled at having that in common.

Grace was quiet for a few minutes more before she spoke. "If you tell him and you guys start dating, would he be like a Step Steve?"

"He'd be whatever you want him to be, Grace, whatever you'd allow him to be, whether I tell him or not, whether anything ever happens or not."

She nodded. "I think it'd be weird at first but I also think I'd get over it. It would just take some getting used to, you know if you guys start dating, and sleeping in the same bed, and hav-"

"Please, do not finish that sentence, if you love me," Danny groaned. He absolutely did not need to go there right now, not in the kitchen, not before dinner, and not with Steve playing with his five year old son in the living room. Grace blushed a little and had the good manners to looks somewhat sheepish. "Sorry Danno, but you know I know about that stuff now, right?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't learn about 'that stuff' until you were 40."

_"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"_

Danny was a solid guy. He may be short, but he was a short wall of pure muscle. However, that mattered not to the aforementioned five year old who had barreled into the kitchen at full speed to slam into his father and wrap his arms and legs around his knees. "Help! Help, I got an octopus in here! It must have swam in from the ocean!" Danny welcomed the abrupt change in topic as he leaned down and tried to pry Charlie's grip loose amid Eddie's excited yips and yelps. "Steve, we got a sea creature in here, we need to throw him back out, right?" His son's high pitched giggles were music to his ears as Danny hefted the boy up and into his arms as Steve rounded the corner into the kitchen. If Danny didn't know better, he'd say the SEAL looked almost winded. "I think you wore Uncle Steve out, buddy; good job." Danny switched the sides he anchored Charlie on. "You ready to eat?"

"Yes!"

Within ten minutes, they were all sitting in the living room, plates full of burgers, hot dogs, beans, and potato salad. In twenty minutes, Charlie's eyes were beginning to droop and ten minutes after that, Steve had to take his plate from his lap and put it on the coffee table lest its contents spill out onto the carpet.

"I'll take him," Danny got up, putting his plate next to Charlie's and picking the boy up, "I think we worked him too hard today at your place." He grinned down at Steve who was looking up at both of them with so much warmth, and something else that Danny couldn't place. "Back in a bit." Grace watched her father leave with her brother and reached over towards Charlie's plate, taking the hot dog he'd neglected to eat and putting it on hers.

"Shameless," Steve snickered, shaking his head at her.

"He's going to bed, he's not going to eat it!" She laughed at him, reaching for the mustard and coating the hot dog liberally with it.

"I used to do that to Mary all the time when we were younger, only she'd actually have intentions to come back and her food would be gone."

"Now _that's_ shameless, Uncle Steve; at least I know Charlie's not coming back."

"Hey, I was eight years old, I was growing. I needed more food than her anyways," Steve defended himself, tucking into his second burger of the night and third of the day. "When all of this is over I'm going to have to literally swim around the island to burn all this fat off."

"You do that every morning, though." Grace smirked at him, and Steve saw so much of Danny in her at that moment that he almost responded as if she were him. He caught himself though, just in the nick of time.

"Uncle Steve?"

He looked up at her, noticing the change in her tone.

"What would you do if someone that you didn't expect told you that they liked you?"

"That they liked me? As in they wanted to date me liked me?" Steve brushed a hand over his mouth. "Well, I dunno, Gracie; I mean, I guess it would really depend on who it was, you know?" He looked at her. "Why, did someone tell you they liked you and you weren't expecting it?"

"Not exactly," she fidgeted a bit, and tried covering by lifting herself to grab some of Charlie's abandoned potato salad. "Just… this person told me that they thought they liked their best friend, but the person is a guy, and his best friend is a guy too, and he hasn't told him because… well, you know obvious reasons." Not a lie. All true.

Steve nodded his head slowly. "Well, I guess my first thought is that if the two are really best friends and they really care about each other then something like that shouldn't matter. It might be a little awkward, especially if the feelings aren't returned, but that's to be expected."

"Would you care?"

"What, would I care if a guy told me he liked me?" Steve shrugged. "I don't think so, no. Probably not. You know, when you spend a lot of time on a submarine or on a ship in the middle of the ocean, really anywhere that you're not able to move around freely or where you're confined, you see and hear a lot of things that you might not if you were based on land or if you were back home."

"Like what things?"

Oh God where was Danny when Steve needed him? How the hell did he keep this a family friendly conversation while still trying to answer her question? "Situations where people of the same sex might lean on each other a little more than they normally would," he finally decided. That was safe enough, right? "So, to answer your question, no I don't think I'd care. I might be surprised, but I wouldn't be insulted or disgusted or anything like that." He watched her nod her head thoughtfully as she pushed the food around on her plate. "What if it was your best friend though, what would you do then?"

"Uh… well," Steve swallowed, "you know my best friend is your dad, so… I don't really…" he trailed off, his brow furrowing as he studied her quietly.

It took only three seconds for her to drop her gaze back down to her plate when he looked at her long enough. "Gracie, who was it that you said you were talking about?"

Again with the fidget, and this time Steve caught it. "Just a guy I know," she pursed her lips and took a huge bite of her hot dog, conveniently disabling her ability to talk for a bit, which was fine. Steve wasn't going to press her anymore. That wouldn't be right or appropriate. So, he followed her lead and finished his food, and was glad when Danny still hadn't reappeared from putting Charlie down, because it gave him the chance to stop Grace when she stood up.

"If it were my best friend, I'd think about it." He looked up at her, feeling that she needed that reassurance at the very least. "It would seem wrong not to after they put themselves out there, taking a risk like that, you know?" And while Grace had built up a pretty good poker face over the years, a blind man couldn't have missed the tension that drained out of her shoulders and back as she smiled gratefully at him before taking her plate and glass into the kitchen. When she came back in the room, it was to walk over to Steve and lean down to hug him. "Love you, Uncle Steve."

"Love you too, Gracie."

He watched her as she headed into the inner sanctum that was every teenager's room and Eddie was right on her heels, padding down the hallway until Steve heard Grace's door shut quietly. He heaved a big sigh and leaned back against the couch thinking to himself for a few minutes before getting up and gathering the dishes to take them to the kitchen. He could hear Danny coming out of the bathroom with what Steve could only assume was a squeaky clean and utterly exhausted child and started in on washing the dishes. Steve ran through his conversation with Grace what seemed like a thousand times in his head. She'd been talking about Danny, he was sure of it; the inability of her to meet his gaze when he'd brought up the fact that it was her father who was his best friend, her evasive answers when he asked specifically who it was that she was talking about, using the precise terminology of 'best friend' at the beginning of the conversation. The question was why? Why was she talking about Danny?

Was it possible? Well sure, it was possible, anything was possible. Steve's life had been a running proving ground of what was possible. Admittedly, he and Danny spent most of their time together, be it at work, after work, at the restaurant, or on the weekends. Steve was a regular fixture during weekends when Danny had the kids, and happily so; he loved those weekends more than his own life sometimes. It was the closest thing he had to a family – scratch that, they were his family, all three of them. Somewhere down the line, Danny, Grace, and Charlie had become his family. Every part of Danny's life had somehow become Steve's life too.

In fact, as he analyzed the facts even further as he swished a sponge over the soapy dishes in the sink, Steve was finding it difficult to imagine his life any differently. He couldn't imagine, didn't want to think of not spending time with the kids and Danny. It was inconceivable to him that he and Danny wouldn't spend Friday and Saturday nights together either at his place watching the ocean or at Danny's house watching a game. And the restaurant? As stressful as starting a business was, Steve wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else but Danny. The hours they'd spent there together, painting and sanding, and bickering over décor and ambiance, and which industrial ovens and tables and fridges to purchase were some of the happiest memories Steve had, and God knew he craved and hung onto any memory that was a happy one; he had so few after all, yet almost all the ones that he did have featured Danny prominently somewhere in them.

Steve glanced down into the sink and realized he'd finished all the dishes while he'd been musing.

"Hey, if you wanna sleep in my room tonight, that's fine."

Thank God Steve hadn't been holding a plate because he'd have dropped it right into the sink. "Huh?" He looked over his shoulder at Danny, eyes wide. "I'm – excuse me?" Danny raised a brow at him, heading over to the fridge and opening it to grab two beers out of it. "Charlie's never been through a hurricane before, so I'm gonna sleep on the couch since I can hear a little better out here if he starts to cry. You can take my bed instead."

"Oh," Steve about kicked himself. Hard. "Yea, that's fine, thanks man. I think Eddie's already bunking with Grace." He slid over a bit to look out the window. It was dark now, and the only way he could see the rain was via the porch light Danny still had on. "I'll take him out back before we head to sleep so he can do his thing. Hopefully it calms down enough."

"I'm just hoping when we lose power that Charlie's already asleep," Danny opened both beers and handed one to Steve, cool steam wafting off the lip of it while taking a drink of his. "He hates storms, hates it even more when the power goes out." He looked over the kitchen. "Thanks for cleaning up."

"Thanks for dragging me over," Steve returned, cheering his partner and helping himself to a long pull. Save for the smacking of the rain and wind against the roof, windows, and siding of the house, it was quiet for a while, just the two of them in the kitchen, Steve near the stove, Danny near the entrance to the living room, drinking their beers and watching the storm.

"Game or movie while we still have the chance?" Danny broke the silence, and Steve nodded, grabbing two more beers from the fridge as he walked towards the living room to follow the other man in to settle down on the couch.

**Hawaii Five-O**

Steve wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep or why he was waking up currently, but he was almost positive that the lights had been on when he'd dozed off.

 _Ah, the power._ Score another point for the Danny Was Right column. The namesake of said column was slumped over next to him on the couch, chin resting awkwardly on the cusp of Steve's shoulder. Both their necks were going to be killing them in the morning, that was sure.

"Uncle Steve…?"

And there was the reason for him being awake. Charlie. Steve shook his head and blinked his eyes open to focus on a blonde haired child with wide eyes who was decidedly unhappy and looking close to panicked tears as only a little kid could look. "What's up, buddy?" Steve, instead of leaning forward, reached out an arm and tugged Charlie towards him carefully.

"Too loud," Charlie whimpered, looking towards the window and out at the storm, and Steve had to admit, it wasn't the most comforting of noises being made. Where the winds had simply been blowing earlier, they were now howling, the different grooves of the housing making the wind shrill at points, and the rain was now beating against the windows and roof at every angle-

A clap of thunder boomed over head and Charlie took it upon himself to launch into Steve, scrambling against his chest and trying to hide his head, paying no mind to his father, who was also now waking up.

"Wha…"

"Charlie," Steve murmured quietly. "Lay down over there, Danno, come on," Steve pushed Danny towards one end of the couch and was thankful that the other man didn't argue. Once Danny was settled on the other side of the sofa, Steve nestled down between him and the back of the couch, taking Charlie with him. The boy was still hiding his face in Steve's chest and Danny's outside arm came up to wrap around his son's body, bumping into Steve's right arm which was doing the same. Steve felt his partner stiffen a bit beside him then, as though he was just now realizing their positioning, what they were doing.

"Don't worry about it," Steve whispered into Danny's hair. "We'll talk in the morning. Go back to sleep." He felt blonde hair move against his face in a nod and, pulling the blanket from the couch over the three of them, settled in, falling asleep within minutes while a storm roared outside, and peace, at least within Steve, finally reigned within.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Danny, come here."
> 
> "Why?"
> 
> Steve rolled his eyes. "Just come here, will you?"
> 
> Warily, Danny inched forward until he was standing by the couch. Steve reached up, grabbed his forearm, and pulled him down until he was lying in the position he had been before he'd gotten up. "There, see?" Steve adjusted the pillows behind their heads. "Better."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright; you guys have twisted my arm. Here is the second and final installment of A Hurricane Outside, Peace Within. I sat and thought on this for a good four or five days before I finally decided to just sit down and start writing. This is the result, and I’m glad this will serve as the final chapter. There’s family, there’s joking, there’s romance; Opa, amIrite? I hope you all enjoy this, and for those that begged me for a second installment, I hope that this is everything you wanted. Reviews are my chocolate!
> 
> _Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-O, as well as the characters found within the series, are owned by CBS Productions, K/O Paper Products, and 101st Street Productions. No profit is being made off this work._

**Hawaii Five-O**

There was a heavy weight on Danny's chest as he came to on the couch. It was still fairly dark, but Danny had fallen asleep in the living room enough times to recognize the subtle change of lighting heralding the coming dawn; sunlight would begin filtering through the large window in an hour or so. The weight on chest shifted a little and Danny glanced down, met almost immediately with a small head of hair. Charlie. When had he come out here?

Well, whenever it was, his little one was still down for the count. Danny moved his outside hand to gently rest against his son's back and felt the slow, deep breathing indicating Charlie was sleeping soundly. If Danny could just figure out how to get out from under the rather heavy blanket he'd somehow managed to acquire, he could put Charlie in his own room and Danny could climb in his own bed-

Danny's brain finally came online enough to realize that his 'blanket' was breathing.

"Steve." Danny hadn't meant to say his name; he'd meant to think it, but he was so shocked that it couldn't be helped. His voice was rough with sleep, and he realized, however hazily, that the reason he was so warm was because he had not one, but two bodies sleeping beside and on top of him. Steve shifted next to him and within a few seconds, Danny felt ridiculously long eyelashes brushing against the side of his forehead. Jesus, they were _that_ close?!

"Hey."

Ohhh and Danny really didn't need to hear a sleep-rasped voice that sounded like sin itself right against his ear, and with his kid snoozing away on top of him to boot. Whose bright idea had this been? Danny certainly didn't remember suggesting it. And was that Steve's arm tightening around his stomach?

"What – how did this happen?"

"Charlie got spooked in the middle of the night, came out here terrified. We'd fallen asleep on the couch," Steve explained quietly, closing his eyes again, seemingly completely at ease. "Guess he's okay now though." And as if Danny's torture wasn't enough, he felt Steve burrow down into his thin section of the couch, feeling short, gentle puffs of air against his neck.

Oh. Oh, no. Danny couldn't stay here, not like this, no Siree Bob. "I uh – I gotta – I should get Charlie in bed, let you have the couch." He heard a muffled hum, and Danny couldn't figure out if that was in agreement or protest. Deciding it didn't – couldn't – matter at the moment, Danny managed to pull his right arm, the one pushed up against Steve's lithe, long torso, from its bodily prison and encircle Charlie with it, slowly and carefully sitting up so as not to wake him. Once he managed to disentangle his legs with those of Steve's, as well as the actual blanket Steve had covered everyone with, he put himself to rights and stood up. Charlie wiped his nose against his father's shoulder, but otherwise didn't so much as acknowledge the movement. Danny stole a glance down at the couch to see Steve watching him quietly, a look on his face that Danny had only seen on rare occasions where Steve had felt either safe enough, or had been completely caught off guard, to let it slip through.

Longing.

Whether it was wanting of his own kid to be able to comfort and put to bed, or something more Danny didn't know. He knew what he _wanted_ it to be, but all he knew at the moment was that expression was keeping him rooted to the spot.

"Danny?"

"Hm?"

"You gonna take Charlie to bed?"

"Oh, uh – yea," Danny moved from the living room, muttering, "be right back."

Which was strange, because Steve had sworn that Danny had inferred he'd be heading to bed, but the SEAL didn't knock it. If Danny wanted to come back then Steve was all for that. He was very much all for that, surprisingly enough. Or maybe not surprising. Hell, even on a couch that was far too short for his height and which definitely hadn't been built to hold two and a half men, the night's rest had been the best he'd gotten in ages. It couldn't be an accident or a coincidence. It had been peaceful.

Speaking of peaceful, Steve suddenly noticed that the wind and thunder which had frightened Charlie last night was nowhere near the severity it had been. In fact, while Steve could still hear the wind blowing outside, it was no longer shrieking, and instead of the continuous, loud rumbling of thunder, only the rain beating against the roof was heard. Steve rolled over and reached for the coffee table, grabbing the remote and clicking the television on to the Weather Channel, pleasantly surprised that the power had been restored as quickly as it had been.

Well, that explained that. The hurricane which had been a category four only yesterday had weakened considerably, down to a category one. Even better news, it was beginning to turn slightly more southwest. Even though Oahu was still on the northern side of the storm, the side of the storm where all the action could be found, the fact that it had weakened so much and had changed direction was fantastic news. Steve was no meteorologist, but if the storm kept moving at the pace and direction it was, the island might be in the clear as early as noon.

That meant Steve could run over to his house and check out the damage.

"Hey, what are you watching?"

"Oh, Weather Channel. I think we're almost out of the woods," Steve gestured to the radar which was being continuously featured on one half of the screen while the anchor talked on the other half.

"Well, that's good. Charlie will be happy at least." Danny rolled his bottom lip above his upper one and rocked on his heels for a moment or two. "You want my bed? I can take the couch since you're freakishly tall." Steve thought for a moment, then shook his head, meeting Danny's gaze. "I'm good here. Comfortable." He quirked his lip a bit when Danny didn't respond. "Do _you_ want the couch?"

_No_ , Danny thought, _I want what's_ on _the couch_.

"Uh." This really shouldn't be a hard question to answer, not for any red-blooded, straight American guy. What _should_ have come out of Danny's mouth was, "if you're fine on the couch, I'm taking my bed." But instead, what came out was nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing but the mask of tired indecision as Steve playfully waved the blanket towards him.

"Danny, come here."

"Why?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just come here, will you?"

Warily, Danny inched forward until he was standing by the couch. Steve reached up, grabbed his forearm, and pulled him down until he was lying in the position he had been before he'd gotten up. "There, see?" Steve adjusted the pillows behind their heads. "Better."

After a few moments of Steve getting comfortable, Danny held up a finger. "Excuse me."

"What?" Steve grumbled.

"What is this?"

"What's what?"

"This," Danny gestured between the two of them, flipping up the edge of the blanket, "what are we doing on the couch?"

"Well, I'm trying to sleep, but you're making that pretty impossible right now."

Danny furrowed his brow, his detective mind drudging up something suddenly. "Last night, you said we'd talk in the morning – talk about what?"

"Danny." Hey, SEAL's could whine; who knew? Steve lifted his head just enough to look down at Danny, and in that moment the latter froze where he was. He couldn't do anything but stare back up at Steve. "Don't. Worry. About it. Okay? Obviously everything's fine, right? I'm here, you're here, we're gonna sleep a few more hours, then get breakfast started, and then head over to my place to check on the damage."

"We are, are we?"

"Yep," Steve laid his head back down, maneuvering a bit again to get comfortable, and that was that. A few minutes of blissful quiet settled into the room. But only a few minutes.

"Are you saying we're gonna talk at your place?"

"Oh my God." Steve lifted a hand and slid it over Danny's mouth. "What's a guy gotta do to get some sleep around here? Do I have to gag you?" Danny did not, _did not_ hitch his breathing at that suggestion, and his eyes flickered to Steve's one more time, which were a fascinating mixture of blue and grey that Danny wanted dive into and drown in. He felt the large hand on his mouth slide down to the side of his neck, Steve's thumb grazing the apple of his cheek softly. "Yea, we're gonna talk at my place," he murmured, "we're gonna talk about this right here, about why you were so frantic to get me over here yesterday, about a lot of stuff. And it's gonna be good, Danno; I promise."

" _You're_ going to talk?" Danny lifted his eyebrows. "I just want to be sure I heard that right. You're going to talk, and I'm not going to have to pull anything out of you?" Wrong wording choice right there, yes it was, because Steve, overgrown high school kid that he was, half choked/half snorted as he ducked his chin against his chest. "You're ridiculous," Danny deadpanned. None the less, he settled in, finally soothed enough that whatever was happening might have some light at the end of the tunnel for him.

It wasn't lost on him that Steve didn't move his hand from his neck either.

**Hawaii Five-O**

There was bacon. Bacon was being prepared. Danny knew that smell in all its forms, had worshipped at its holy crispiness and divine taste after many nights of too much alcohol in his youth. Bacon cured all ills, that's what his Pops had always told him. Danny found the man had yet to be wrong, at least about that. He opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the day light that was streaming into the room and rolled fully on his back, suddenly aware that he was alone on the couch. The ninja that was his partner had managed to get up without waking him.

Well, it was obvious Steve hadn't left. He was probably the one making breakfast. Grace was more than capable, but at – Danny reached for his phone on the coffee table and squinted at the time – 8:26 in the morning, he knew she would still be dead to the world. She was just like him in that respect. If Grace didn't have to be at school, she slept as late as she could.

He laid there for a few more minutes, ignoring the knot forming in his stomach to the best of his ability before finally succumbing to the inevitable and getting up. He headed into the kitchen, and the first thing he saw was Eddie sitting loyally by the stove, his tail thumping excitedly in anticipation of getting a bacon strip served to him.

The next thing he saw was Steve, dish towel flung over his shoulder, standing next to the food prep counter whipping something in a bowl – eggs, Danny guessed, based on the sound of the mixture being stirred brusquely about and it was confirmed when Steve lifted the fork out of the mixture and thin yellow liquid dripped back down.

"Not microwaving them this time?" Danny inched closer, lifting his chin a bit to see what else Steve had cooking on the stove. Bacon of course, but there was another sauce pan that was crackling with… batter. "Pancakes too?"

"With blueberries," Steve nodded, turning around and setting the eggs off to the side for the moment. Those would be the last to cook. "You had some left over in your fridge and I know Gracie likes them."

"That she does," Danny moved around Steve and dipped his finger in the batter, taking a taste. "Mmm. Good job." He looked up at Steve's half way disgusted face.

"Really? How are the rest of us supposed to eat the pancakes now that you've gone and contaminated it with your fingers, huh? You gonna do that at the restaurant?"

"I might, just to annoy you," Danny snickered, backing off and allowing Steve free reign while he headed over to the patio doors to take stock of the backyard. Not terrible – the ground was obviously saturated and there was a small pool of rain water which had risen in the middle where the yard dipped. Branches and large leaves from the surrounding palm trees decorated the grass, but other than that, there was nothing that couldn't be cleaned up once the storm passed fully. It was still raining, though nowhere near as hard as it had been when it had started yesterday, and while the wind was gusting harder than usual, its force had diminished quite a bit.

"The front yard and the neighborhood as a whole isn't too bad," Steve reported, turning the bacon over in the pan and looking down at the dog, "Eddie and I took a short run this morning, looked things over. There's a tree down that took out a car a few blocks away but other than some flooded yards, fallen branches, things like that," he shrugged. "It could have been a lot worse."

"Which means your place probably made it out alright," Danny turned away from the windows and headed back over into the kitchen proper. Noticing that the coffee wasn't on yet, he set to rectifying that awful oversite and within ten minutes, he was happily sipping away at a mug filled with steaming brew while Steve started in on the eggs. Seeing that the bacon was finished, Danny gathered a few paper towels, laid them on the counter, and began to lay out the bacon strip by strip. A whine from below caught his attention and, making sure most of the grease had seeped onto the towel, Danny took a piece and held it down for Eddie to munch on, which he did quite happily. "I'm gonna go wake the kids," Danny said to Steve, and the other man nodded while scrambling up the eggs. "Still can't believe you didn't microwave those. Thank you, Steven, for flipping on your 'civilized' switch this morning." He dodged out of the kitchen as Steve picked up a piece of egg and threw it at him and heard Eddie running to clean up the morsel as he walked down the hallway to his kids rooms.

Grace was easy. A soft tap at her door and Danny poking his head in to tell her that breakfast was on was all it took. He knew he'd see her in about 15 minutes. Charlie, on the other hand, was always the challenge to wake up, and on any other morning, Danny would have stayed in the room to coax him awake, but this morning, Danny quietly crept near his son's bed, gentled him to consciousness by rubbing his back, and then carefully picked him up and carried him out to the kitchen, knowing the smell of the food would get him going eventually.

"Yep," Steve grinned as he set a plate of pancakes on the table.

"Yep? Yep what?" Danny furrowed his brow as he settled Charlie into a chair and pushed it forward.

"Definitely your kid."

Danny just rolled his eyes, grabbed a plate (which Steve had also set out – Good SEAL), and forked some pancakes onto Charlie's plate, ensuring to add the syrup himself and not leaving it to Charlie. That was a mistake Danny had made one time and one time only.

It wasn't long before everyone was tucking into breakfast, even Grace, who'd finally emerged from her bedroom still half asleep but becoming more alert with every bite she took. Steve was rather amused to find her and Danny fighting over the last piece of bacon. "You both know I can make more right? I only used just over half the pack."

"But that'll take more time," Danny – not Grace – pouted. _Pouted!_ Steve was amazed at what he was witnessing.

"Danno, you said a true gentlemen always let's the lady have the last of the desert."

Steve barked out a laugh at his partner's stunned face. "But-but this – this is breakfast, not desert, this doesn't count!" Danny sputtered and watched as Grace swooped in and snagged the last piece.

"You also said bacon is good for any time of day or any meal – that includes desert!"

"C'mon Danny, I can make more for dinner tonight. Besides, she's right – the gentlemen always gives the lady the last helping." Steve grinned at him, spooning the last of his eggs onto a fork and popping it in his mouth.

"Uncle Steve, you're staying over again tonight?" Grace asked, and Charlie perked right up. "Can we play – can you show me the wrestling moves again?!" The boy was so excited his pancakes, dripping with syrup, were threatening to decorate the table, and Danny deftly moved his son's arm back over the plate while raising his eyebrows at Steve. "Wrestling moves?"

"Yea! Uncle Steve was showing me last night! I pinned him a lot!" Charlie looked rather proud of himself and Danny snickered. "Well that's good, Charlie. Lot's of Army guys lose wrestling matches so I'm glad to see you continuing that streak."

"Navy," Steve muttered, "Navy, Daniel, N-A-V-Y. Naaaaaaaaaavy."

Danny waited a beat. "Navy guys get pinned more than Army guys, right?"

And, oh did Steve have a response, did he ever, but there were young people present, and the humor and wit that sailors in the Navy were known for the world over could not make an appearance in this dining room in front of two minors. "You don't want anymore bacon, do you." Steve stood up and took his plate and the bacon dish to the sink, leaving Danny to glower behind him.

"'Least I don't get tired out by wrestling with a five year old," Danny muttered. Grace giggled, then stood up and carried her plate to the sink. While Danny finished his own breakfast and helped Charlie with his, he watched as his partner and daughter developed a washing and drying routine. It struck Danny how very domestic this was, how nice it was, and he thought he'd very much like this every morning. It fit. Steve fit in their lives. This was right, all of it, even the rain and wind outside, which was lessening with every half hour that passed.

Once Charlie was done, Danny brought the rest of the dishes over and set to putting various food items away and wiping down the counters and table. It wasn't long before the kitchen was spic and span and Grace was thanking Steve for breakfast before heading back to her room. "Y'know that's the first time I've seen her without her cellphone in hand in months," Danny muttered, "I should bring you over here more often."

"Yep."

"Again with the yep," Danny rolled his eyes, "are you capable of any other answer or is 'yep' all I'm going to get out of you?"

"Yea, you should bring me over here more often?" Steve raised a brow at him, leaning back against the and crossing his arms. "You think about noon it'll be fine to head over to my place?"

"Should be. Grace can watch Charlie for an hour or two. He'll take a nap after lunch anyways, he normally does, so," Danny shrugged, "nothing she can't handle."

"Good. Then that should be plenty of time." Steve pushed off the sink. Danny blinked at him. "Plenty of time? Plenty of time for what?"

"To check out the house, talk," Steve leaned in close to Danny, making sure that only he would hear the next part, "to see if Navy guys really do get pinned more than other guys." With that, Steve clapped Danny's arm with a hand and headed into the living room to find Charlie, leaving Danny guffawing in his wake.

If the detective didn't know any better, he'd say Steve was flirting with him, had been flirting with him all morning, since the first time they'd woken up in the pre-dawn hours. And Danny was a fantastic detective, his detecting was top drawer, he knew that very well, was quite proud of his deduction skills. The part he was missing was why. Why was Steve flirting with him? What had brought it on? It was like a switch had been flipped between when they'd gone to sleep last night and when they'd woken up this morning. Danny didn't think he'd been acting any differently than normal, didn't believe he'd let on anything. Had he talked in his sleep possibly? It wasn't unheard of, but it was highly unlikely he'd mumbled out some kind of love confession to Steve in the middle of the night.

But if he had, it didn't appear as if that possibility had put Steve off at all. In fact, it seemed to have enticed him.

So, Danny, would wait. He poured himself another mug of coffee, slipped some milk into it, and headed out into the living room to watch Steve and Charlie and their game of wrestling.

**Hawaii Five-O**

By 12:30, lunch had been served and Danny, all-knowing father that he was, was currently carrying a protesting and crabby Charlie to his room. "Uncle Steve and I'll be back soon buddy. You just sleep off that lunch you ate, alright?" He knelt next to Charlie's bed until the child lulled off, and, with one last brush of his hand against his hair, Danny stood up and flicked off the light in the room, heading down to Grace's to let her know he and Steve were leaving.

The drive over was relatively easy, until they got to Piikoi Street. While the ocean wasn't exactly on the road, this area of the island was obviously at a lower elevation due to its proximity to the sea, and there appeared to be about three to six inches of standing water depending on what part of the street one drove. It was lower in some places, higher than others, but didn't appear to be any higher than half a foot.

"That's good," Steve muttered, and Danny could hear the nervous tremor in his voice as he took stock of his neighbors' homes. "No one looks too flooded out. Maybe everything's alright?" Danny nodded. Positive thinking was good, especially when it was backed up by visual evidence. Steve slowed the truck and made the turn into his property, inching forward slowly until he reached the gate and trellis. Shutting the Silverado off and pocketing the key, he and Danny climbed out, shutting the doors and making their way into the yard.

"Well," Danny grimaced, looking at the front yard, "not too much water here now, but it was probably higher than this at some point during the night," he motioned forward and he and Steve headed up to the porch and the front door. Steve let them both in and gave a sigh of relief when he didn't step into a puddle of water right away. The living room appeared to be in pretty good shape – no sign of water ever having trickled in through the foundations. As both men continued on inside, letting the light from the un-boarded living room window guide their way, the saw that no water had managed to make it into the house, not even the kitchen area or the back office and dining room, and Steve sagged against the table, breathing a sigh of relief. His house was okay. Any damage outside or to the windows or siding, that could all be fixed, but the house, the things inside, his parents belongings – it was all safe. Danny seemed to understand that Steve needed a minute and headed up stairs to check the second level lanai. He opened the door to Steve's room and crossed the floor to the door which opened up on the lanai and stepped out, stopping suddenly.

Well. He had told Steve yesterday that the ocean was his backyard and it seemed today that sentiment held water, pun not intended. Currently, water pushed all the way up three quarters of the backyard, and Danny was sure that, at some point, the water had been lapping right up against the patio, or had probably been on the patio. He was immensely grateful that he and Steve had had the foresight to get the chairs and the table into the house, along with the grill and all the other furniture that had been outside.

But, this was water. It would recede. The storm was moving away, any rain bands that would come through in the next day or two would be moderate to light at best, and it would take a little while for Steve's yard to air out, but everything would be fine. They'd gotten lucky, the entire island had.

"Danny?"

"Out here," he answered, looking over his shoulder to see Steve come out behind him. "Whoa," he muttered, staring at the ocean in front of and below him. They were both quiet for a moment before Danny spoke.

"You know, you could probably run downstairs and grab your fishing poles," he chuckled, pantomiming casting a line over the railing, "maybe catch a fish or two for dinner tonight." His partner snickered and placed his hands on the railing, leaning into it. "Thank you, Danny," he murmured quietly. Danny shook his head. "No, Babe, no thanks needed."

"You didn't have to force me to come over to your place, call Junior to bring plywood over, help board up the house, move all the stuff outside inside-"

"Yes, I did." Danny gave him a look. "That's what I'm here for, Steven."

"Danny-"

"Okay, so I guess you didn't have to play with Charlie last night or this morning?" Danny challenged. "You didn't have to take care of him when he got scared in the middle of the night, or make breakfast for everyone this morning?" When Steve didn't answer, Danny gave him a smug smile, and it turned into a grin when Steve tossed him one back.

"So," Danny leaned his forearms on the railing. "We've checked on the house. Most everything seems to be okay." He took a breath, steeling himself. "You wanted to talk?" He felt Steve sidle a little closer to him and relax into the same position. "Yea, I wanted to," he answered after a few seconds. "I wanted to ask you if there was anything you wanted to tell me." He saw Danny dip his chin to his chest out of the corner of his eye.

"You were flirting with me all morning, weren't you." Danny interlaced his fingers together but didn't look at Steve, so the other man nodded. "Yea."

"Why?"

Steve shrugged. "I got the feeling you wouldn't mind."

"From where?" Danny watched as Steve searched for his answer in the water below. "Steve, from where?" His friend gave a long suffering sigh.

"Don't get mad at her, okay; she was trying to protect you."

"Grace."

Steve nodded. "When you went to go wash and put Charlie to bed last night, she kinda gave me a scenario and asked me what I would do if someone unexpected, like my best friend, told me they had feelings for me." He watched Danny take in the information quietly, scratching the side of his face. "She was doing some recon, that's all, Danny; She asked specifically about what I would do if my best friend told me they liked me, and when I told her my best friend was you, the conversation kinda… waned a bit. I was pretty sure she realized that I figured out she'd been talking about you, and she wasn't planning on that and she didn't want to out you, but she wanted to make sure that if you ever did tell me that I would be receptive, or that I wouldn't shut you out at least."

Danny had ducked his head down as he was listening, nodding here and there. "First of all, did you just tell me that my daughter was doing recon?" He glared up at Steve, who blanched.

"I… may have used that term. Uh… doing background?"

"She was neither doing recon nor background, Steven. You make it sound like she was performing her own little op!" Steve considered that and couldn't help the small bit of pride that snuck into his expression. Danny groaned. "Please tell me you didn't name it."

"Okay. I didn't name it."

Danny laughed, rubbing his face with his hands. "This is just great. So the flirting this morning, the getting me to sleep on the couch with you, the breakfast – all of that was what? Oh God, was that Smooth Dog I saw? Did I experience Steven 'Smooth Dog' McGarrett this morning?"

"No! Jeez, Danny!" Steve pushed off the railing. "The Smooth Dog thing – that was my buddies having laugh. I never knew what to do with girls when they liked me and when we would go into port I made a fool of myself more than a few times, so." He shrugged helplessly. "Besides, even if it wasn't a joke and I did have some kind of game, you're way too good for that. I'd never use it on you."

They both went silent, Danny digesting Steve's words and Steve waiting for Danny to speak again. Unlike Danny, this was all knew to Steve. He'd only had around twelve hours or so to come to terms with what Grace had inferred to him last night, but so far, everything he'd done to test that theory with Danny had yielded positive results.

"So what does – what does this mean, huh?" Danny looked up at him. "You telling me you feel the same way? You wanna take me out on a date? Or you just wanted to know?"

"I..I dunno, I want...." Steve growled at himself, frustrated that he couldn't voice what he wanted as easily as Danny could. The other man just waited patiently for Steve to find the words he needed, knowing that he couldn't pull this out of Steve; Steve had to tell Danny himself.

"I told you I'm not very good at this, Danny," Steve grumbled. "Look, the best way I can explain it is when I was doing the dishes last night, after Grace went to bed, I started thinking about everything. How we met, our partnership, the restaurant, the fact that we've been to hell and back together, but the thing above all of that," he swallowed, "was you and the kids, and the time that we all spend together, and that when I'm with you, or with you and Grace and Charlie, I'm happy."

"Yea?" Danny rasped out. Steve nodded. "Yea. It's empty when I'm not with you and the kids, Danny. I hate it. And I started thinking last night that when we spend a Friday or Saturday night here out back, or at your place, or when you have the kids on the weekends and you bring them over here… God, Danny, I don' t want to give that up. That's _home_ to me, you understand?" He knocked his shoulder gently against Danny's to get the blonde to look at him.

"I woke up next to you this morning on the couch and my neck was cramped, my knees hurt because I had to bend them to fit my legs on it, and my foot fell asleep because there wasn't enough room, but I promise you, Danny, I've never felt more content in my life. Never." Steve held Danny's gaze after he finished speaking, needing Danny to see that Steve wasn't pulling his leg. This was real for him. Danny huffed a sigh.

"Alright. I know what they say about guys in the Navy, but I'm gonna go ahead and assume that you've never been with a guy."

"Nope."

"Okay," Danny breathed, "neither have I. So at least we're both starting off on the same foot." His fingers wrung together. "What about work?" Steve shrugged. "What about it?"

"I mean, if we're gonna give this a go we need to decide on a couple of things, don't you think? Are we gonna tell the team? When are we gonna tell them? What happens when you do something incredibly stupid and I have to make the decision to save your ass, that kind of thing."

"Well, I don't know, those are all good questions."

"Thank you." Danny waited a few seconds, but Steve said nothing. "Are you gonna answer any of those good questions, or…?"

"I need some time to think about it, you know? Besides, we have other things to think about before we cross that bridge."

Danny rolled his eyes. "What other things do we have to think about, Steve? We just decided to try out a less than platonic relationship between the two of us. There are certain things that need to be taken care of and one of those things includes what we tell our co-workers!"

"And I'm saying instead of trying to figure all of that out right now, let's go on a few days and spend some time together and then deal with it. Ya gotta relax, Danny, give us some time to just figure this out, together; don't be so pushy." Steve turned and headed back into the house, Danny on his heels. "Well I'm sorry, but when it's about my relationship with you and how we're gonna make it all work since our track records are pretty pathetic in that department, I'm gonna be a little pushy on wanting to know the details."

Danny followed Steve down the stairs, continuing his rant. "You know this changes things, right? It's one of the reasons I was hesitating on whether or not to tell you. We work together, Steve, we are partners. Trouble follows you like a stray dog and at least once a week we're dodging bullets or yanking each other's asses out of the fire, not to mention those of the fair and good citizens of Oahu." He stopped at the entrance way to the kitchen, watching as Steve checked out the contents of the refrigerator. "Are you seriously more worried about whether the milk's gone bad than how we're gonna figure all this out?"

"No, I'm not more worried about the milk than how we're going to figure this out, Danny, but I also know that you expect the worst out of everything in your life, and as the optimist in this relationship, I feel I have the moral obligation to get you to focus on the good." Steve frowned and put the milk back in the fridge, checking on the other dairy products before he closed the door and opened up the freezer. "Awesome, the steaks are still good."

"The steaks are still good." Danny deadpanned. "Well, thank God for that. We have meat."

"Yes, Danny, we have meat, which means we have dinner for tonight. Look in that cabinet right there and hand me a bag, will you?" Instead of arguing, Danny did he as he was bid and handed a plastic bag to Steve, who took four steaks out of the freezer and wrapped them before stuffing them back in. In expectation of the freezer door swinging back his way, Danny leaned back to avoid getting smacked in the face, but what he was not expecting was to be backed against the counter on which he regularly sat atop. "Uh, Steve?" He looked up at his partner, seeing a mischievous grin wired through his lips. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? Well, I told you earlier that we'd come by the house, and check on the damage, and talk," Steve pushed Danny a little more against the counter, "and there was one more thing we were gonna do..."

"Is this about the crack? About the pinning, about Navy guys getting pinned all the time? Because I fully admit-" At the feel of Steve's hands settling gently along the sides of neck, Danny stuttered to a stop. It had been a while since anyone had touched him with such tenderness and he couldn't help but close his eyes and revel in it for just a few moments. He hadn't even realized one of his hands was casually gripping Steve's wrist as the man's thumbs gently caressed the skin peppered with day old stubble, and when he opened his eyes just a little, it was to Steve looking down at him with a soft, wondrous, _happy_ look on his face. Danny could feel Steve's pulse racing just under his thumb where it rested on the SEAL's wrist, and he was sure Steve could feel his own heart rate beating against the skin of his neck. Even through the confidence Steve had been radiating, Danny knew that there was always the fear of rejection lying just underneath Steve. So, Danny tilted his chin up just a little, just enough. "S'okay, Babe," he gently encouraged him, knowing what Steve wanted, knowing he was afraid to ask, even though it was clear as day that Danny was a sure thing, that he wouldn't tell Steve no. But Danny was nervous too; they could talk about wanting to give this a shot all they wanted, but relationships required physical intimacy and compatibility to work. It was just as important open communication and quality time – it was a must.

So when Steve dipped his lips against Danny's in a gentle press and a shot of electric arousal raced down Danny's spine at just that minute touch, relief filled the detective so quickly that he sank against the counter in an effort to stay standing. The movement pulled Steve closer to him and neither had moved their hands; Steve's fingers were still loosely brushing Danny's neck, and Danny's hand was still wrapped loosely about Steve's wrist. One kiss turned into two, turned into three, and more, each one gentle, chaste, and lingering longer than the last until Steve finally rested his forehead against Danny's, both men inhaling shaken breaths to calm their heart rates.

"We – we could move some of your stuff back downstairs since it's safe now," Danny suggested, panting lightly. He felt Steve nod against him. "Couch," he mumbled.

"We didn't move the couch, the couch is still in the living room."

"I know," Steve growled, looking down at him, an icy heat being directed at Danny as he pulled his partner away from the counter and in toward his own body, turning to walk them both into the living room, kissing Danny's mouth the entire way until they both fell on the sofa, Steve pinning Danny carefully beneath him.

The furniture could wait.


End file.
